This document relates to search filtering.
The rise of the Internet has enabled access to a wide variety of content items, e.g., video and/or audio files, web pages for particular subjects, news articles, etc. Content items of particular interest to a user can be identified by a search engine in response to a user query. One example search engine is the Google search engine provided by Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., U.S.A. The query can include one or more search terms, and the search engine can identify and, optionally, rank the content items based on the search terms in the query and present the content items to the user (e.g., according to the rank).
The content items that are identified in response to a query may include material that is inappropriate for a particular user. For example, a juvenile may (intentionally or unintentionally) enter a query that will return adult-oriented content, and a search engine may identify material that is both appropriate and inappropriate for the juvenile. Various conventional processes have been developed to help prevent the serving of inappropriate content to particular users. For example, some search engines can require that a user provide verification data to a verification service upon detecting a search instance that includes inappropriate content. For example, a search engine can require that a user provide age verification data to an age verification service upon detecting a query that includes a “black-listed” search term or search results that include adult-oriented content. If the user's age cannot be verified, search results are not presented to the user.
Such a verification process, however, can degrade the user experience. For example, a user may not be interested in the adult-oriented content per se, but may instead be interested in journal articles studying the effects of such content on society, e.g., the societal effects of pornography on young women. A query directed to this particular interest, however, may include one or more black-listed terms or result in the identification of web sites that are inappropriate for some, e.g., juvenile, users. Accordingly, if the user is a juvenile, the user may not be able to access content that is appropriate for the user. Conversely, if the user is an adult, but the age verification service is not available, the user may not be able to access the content of interest.